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Anthony Kuehn is the editor of the Detroit Lions blog Lions Gab. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. Get in touch with Anthony at lionsgab@gmail.com or on Twitter @lionsgab.

The Scouting Combine will be the center of the NFL Universe this week because of the tangible numbers that will be applied to all the draftable prospects. Free agency is an afterthought for most fans during this time but, in NFL circles, all the groundwork for free agency is laid at the combine.

NFL teams are prohibited from negotiating with pending free agents until March 9. This will be the first year that teams can negotiate with players prior to free agency actually opening. Free agency begins at 4 p.m. March 12. Despite negotiations being prohibited, they occur en masse at the Combine.

Every NFL decision-maker, agent and coach is in Indianapolis, so it is only natural that discussions will occur. Agents will approach teams about players trying to judge the market for their clients and teams also will figure out what the salary demands for players will be. Technically, this is tampering but, apparently, the NFL only cares about tampering when they can bust the Detroit Lions doing it.

The free agency groundwork done at the combine is a major reason why incredibly lucrative contracts (i.e. long complex legal documents) are signed and turned into the league office within 30 minutes of free agency opening. This is what gives the opening gun of free agency such a frenetic feel; the negotiations have already occurred, itís just the time when pen can be put to paper.

The new negotiating window will dampen that pace a little this year as teams will have a league-approved negotiating period, but the salary cap could really dampen the first few days of free agency.

In the old collective bargaining agreement, the salary cap increased significantly year after year, over $10 million a year sometimes. In the new CBA, the cap has only seen minimal increases, less than $1.5 million a year. That is not expected to dramatically change, the cap will start increasing by $2-4 million a year, but that makes structuring huge contracts very difficult.

Letís say a player signs a four year $10 million deal with a $4 million signing bonus. Under the old CBA the year by year breakdown would look something like this:

Year 2: $1.5 million salary, $1 million signing bonus, $2.5 million cap hit

Year 3: $3 million salary, $1 million signing bonus, $4 million cap hit

Year 4: $5 million salary, $1 million signing bonus, $6 million cap hit

The salary inflates significantly year after year while the signing bonus is split evenly over the four years. That structure worked when the cap increased significantly year over year but, with minimal increases, the salaries are growing at a higher percentage than the cap.

So letís say this four-year deal was signed last year, and the team needs salary cap relief this year. They can restructure the contract but, while it provides short term relief, it makes things more unwieldy in the future. Letís say the team wants to turn $1 million of the $1.5 million into a bonus to reduce the salary to $500,000 for this season. It would end up like this:

Year 2: $500,000 salary, $1.333 million bonus, $1.833 million cap hit

Year 3: $3 million salary, $1.333 million bonus, $4.333 million cap hit

Year 4: $5 million salary, $1.333 million bonus, $6.333 million cap hit

By restructuring the contract, the Year 3 cap hit increased by 8% and the cap has only been increasing by between a half a percent and one percent a year. This example uses a smaller contract, but imagine restructuring a $60 million deal with $35 million in guaranteed money.

This dynamic will make large contracts more difficult to get relief from in future years, which means teams are going to be less likely to sign free agents to huge deals. Teams donít want to be stuck in a situation like the Lions are currently in where they are saddled with gigantic contracts that need to be renegotiated every season.

The Lions are at least in a position where the big contracts are for franchise players such as Calvin Johnson, Ndamukong Suh and Matthew Stafford. But those contracts were forced on the Lions by the draft rules at the time. These players are foundation players the team is familiar with; what team is going to want to roll the dice with a huge contract on a free agent that they have little familiarity with?

There will be teams that spend big, because some teams have the cap space to do so. In all honesty, Lions fans better get used to the fact that somebody else will be wearing No. 92 next season because Cliff Avril is one of the only free agents that could command a blockbuster deal. Free agency has had a ďwin the lotteryĒ type feel with huge signings coming fast and furious the first few days. Those days could be in the past.

The free agency landscape could be dramatically different this season with teams showing patience and restraint. Tampa Bay spent big on three free agents last season within the opening days of free agency in 2012. They signed Vincent Jackson, Carl Nicks and Eric Wright. Jackson was worth it, but Wright was injured and suspended and Nicks got hurt as well. Tampa Bay is fortunate that they were so far under the cap that those contracts arenít crippling them, but teams have learned a lesson from them.

This could bode well for the Lions, if there isnít a lot of money flying around in free agency it will make it easier to retain some of the depth type players like Sammy Hill and Lawrence Jackson. It will also make it easier to retain a starter like Louis Delmas and Chris Houston and increase the chances of the Lions being able to afford other starters.

The Lions will have a hard time keeping Avril, but just remember the highest percentage of free-agent busts are the guys who get the blockbuster deals. Players that make decisions based on money generally play the game for the money rather than the chance to win championships. Mario Williams left a Super Bowl contender to go to Buffalo and he has a terrible season, while Houston didnít miss him.

The Lions will be better off avoiding the big-money guys and just paying for players that want to be in Detroit. This free agency climate may be the perfect thing for that approach.